| Welcome to The New Coffee Room. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Honda Blames Canada | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: May 18 2007, 10:27 AM (320 Views) | |
| kenny | May 18 2007, 10:27 AM Post #1 |
|
HOLY CARP!!!
|
http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story...onda18/GIStory/ Honda attacks Flaherty on rebates GREG KEENAN Friday, May 18, 2007 Honda Canada Inc.'s anger about a key federal environmental initiative boiled over yesterday as the auto maker blasted the plan as an arbitrary measure that has so distorted the market that the company will dip into its own pocket to offer rebates to consumers. The object of Honda's ire is Ottawa's "feebate" scheme that provides a rebate for some gas-sipping vehicles and slaps a levy or fee on gas guzzlers. Almost every other auto maker - with the exception of Toyota Canada Inc. - is also unhappy about the ecoAuto rebate system and industry groups have been lobbying the federal government intensively to get the plan scrapped. "Why should consumers have to choose between an ecoAuto rebate and vehicles that offer the right balance of safety and environmental responsibility?" Honda said. In particular, it slammed the "arbitrary" line that provides a rebate of up to $2,000 for cars that use less than 6.5 litres of gas to travel 100 kilometres, but nothing to cars just above that line. The glaring example is Honda's Fit, which uses 6.6 litres of gas to travel 100 kilometres and thus doesn't qualify. The Toyota Yaris, which competes against Fit in the subcompact segment of the market, consumes 6.4 litres of gas to travel 100 kilometres, so it is eligible for a $1,000 rebate. "Our reputation has been tarnished," Honda Canada's executive vice-president Jim Miller said yesterday. Mr. Miller acknowledging that an open letter and advertisements criticizing the federal government are an unusual move for the company. The ads will begin appearing in papers across the country tomorrow. "It arguably is the gutsiest move I've ever seen from a vehicle company - confronting the government with the stupidity of their policy," said industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc., and an outspoken critic of the federal government's move. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said yesterday that Honda has been assisted by co-operative governments in Canada and it's up to Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon to change the line for rebates. "And you should know that there have been discussions with the CEOs of the auto sector," Mr. Flaherty said in Toronto. "There are ongoing discussions. We meet with them quite regularly." Auto makers have complained since March 19, however, that there was no notice from the government that a feebate scheme was to be put in place and they have argued strenuously against such a system for years. To make up for the rebate, Honda will offer buyers of the Fit and manual transmission versions of the Civic compact a $1,000 rebate. It will be retroactive to March 20, the day after the federal budget and matches the rebate Ottawa is giving to buyers of Yaris and the five-speed manual transmission Corolla offered by Toyota. "At Honda, we offer pride of ownership because we do not sacrifice safety for the environment," Honda president Hiroshi Kobayashi said in an open letter to Canadians that will appear as an advertisement in newspapers in major cities. The Fit is rated by U.S. regulators as having five-star crash worthiness, compared with a four-star rating for Yaris. Auto makers and the Canadian Auto Workers union have taken the government to task both publicly and privately. Federal Industry Minister Maxime Bernier received an earful from auto maker representatives earlier this month at a meeting of the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council, a joint industry-government-union advisory group. Transport Canada spokesman Robin Browne said late yesterday that the Department's top priority is safety and every vehicle that qualifies for the rebate has been certified by the manufacturers. Mr. Browne said that the fuel mileage standards required to qualify could be adjusted in future. "We will monitor the impact of the program, and review the thresholds to ensure program objectives are being met," he said. Sales of every subcompact that competes with Yaris - with the exception of the Kia Rio - fell in April from year-earlier levels, the first full month that the rebates were available. The slumps were in double digits for most of the competing cars, although Fit sales slipped only about 1 per cent. Yaris sales surged 15 per cent. "The best thing they can do here is get rid of this thing entirely," said Mark Nantais, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, which represents DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc., Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. and General Motors of Canada Ltd. GM officials said yesterday that the four-door Chevrolet Aveo, which competes against the four-door Yaris, is already priced lower at $12,995, so GM doesn't need to match the Honda rebate move. |
![]() |
|
| Piano*Dad | May 18 2007, 10:35 AM Post #2 |
|
Bull-Carp
|
That kind of a policy shouldn't pass a laugh test in any Econ 101 class in either country, yet governments can't seem to stop putting truly stupid ideas like this in play. If your goal is to reduce gasoline consumption because of the externalities of consuming it in automobiles it is far more efficient to tax the consumption directly (by taxing gasoline purchases at the pump) than it is to offer lumpy rebates on a capital purchase based on arbitrary cutoffs. Then people can decide for themselves the best tradeoff between attributes of different autombile makes. |
![]() |
|
| AlbertaCrude | May 18 2007, 10:35 AM Post #3 |
|
Bull-Carp
|
Honda's right, it is a stupid programme. No one here asked for it. Scrap it. It's just one in a series of bad programmes put forward by this brain dead Conservative minority parliament. People in this country desire simple tax incentives not rebates and grants. |
![]() |
|
| Daniel\ | May 18 2007, 02:54 PM Post #4 |
![]()
Fulla-Carp
|
A car company (or any company) has no place telling a government what it can do. They are concerned because the Toyota gets a rebate and the Honda does not (the crash test results are completely irrelevant so why are they mentioned). Bad form. |
|
| |
![]() |
|
| AlbertaCrude | May 18 2007, 03:21 PM Post #5 |
|
Bull-Carp
|
Seeing that Honda Canada Inc. pays corporate taxes and employs Canadians, I think it has every right to criticize the government over this ridiculous programme nobody wanted or asked for in the first place. |
![]() |
|
| Daniel\ | May 18 2007, 03:27 PM Post #6 |
![]()
Fulla-Carp
|
When I was growing up companies did not take out full page ads criticizing the government. I guess we can add that to the things that are permissible in our society now. |
|
| |
![]() |
|
| AlbertaCrude | May 18 2007, 03:42 PM Post #7 |
|
Bull-Carp
|
Daniel, you have never experienced the oil patch have you? |
![]() |
|
| Daniel\ | May 18 2007, 03:51 PM Post #8 |
![]()
Fulla-Carp
|
Is this a trick question? |
|
| |
![]() |
|
| AlbertaCrude | May 18 2007, 04:01 PM Post #9 |
|
Bull-Carp
|
No, its an assessment based on observation. |
![]() |
|
| Daniel\ | May 18 2007, 04:04 PM Post #10 |
![]()
Fulla-Carp
|
Please tell me what the oil patch is and how experiencing it relates to this thread. |
|
| |
![]() |
|
| AlbertaCrude | May 18 2007, 06:41 PM Post #11 |
|
Bull-Carp
|
Industry has its voice. The oil producers especially. A very loud voice. Louder than the voice of Jesus & his kin, Allah. |
![]() |
|
| Ayatollah Khamenei | May 18 2007, 07:10 PM Post #12 |
![]()
Junior Carp
|
You are beginning to understand, bint sharmoota! Allah'u Akhbar! |
| Allah'u Akhbar! | |
![]() |
|
| AlbertaCrude | May 18 2007, 08:08 PM Post #13 |
|
Bull-Carp
|
Oh yeah? Well Elif air ab dinikh to you. |
![]() |
|
| Riley | May 18 2007, 08:11 PM Post #14 |
|
HOLY CARP!!!
|
|
![]() |
|
| AlbertaCrude | May 18 2007, 08:15 PM Post #15 |
|
Bull-Carp
|
I think it's past your bedtime laddy. |
![]() |
|
| Axtremus | May 19 2007, 01:27 AM Post #16 |
|
HOLY CARP!!!
|
|
![]() |
|
| « Previous Topic · The New Coffee Room · Next Topic » |









6:15 AM Jul 11